Return gay man to UK, Smith told

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A judge has ordered the home secretary to return a gay man to the UK after it emerged he was illegally removed.

The High Court told Jacqui Smith to use her best endeavours to bring the failed asylum seeker back from his homeland.

The UK Border Agency effectively denied Mr X the right to seek legal advice before his removal, the judge ruled.

Neither the 38-year-old, who is in hiding, nor his homeland can be named for fear he will be persecuted, deputy judge Sir George Newman added.

The judge said Mr X's removal by UK Border Agency officers was "manifestly unlawful".

"It seems to me they deliberately misled him to avoid him making any contact with the Refugee Legal Centre," the judge said.

'Credible account'

"Justice requires he should, if possible, be brought back to this country so that he can make his claim as effectively as he can.

"Without hesitation, I exercise my discretion to grant the claimant a mandatory order that the secretary of state should use her best endeavours to secure his return to the UK."

Mr X said last September he was led to believe that he was being taken from Tinsley House immigration removal centre, next to Gatwick Airport, for an interview with an immigration officer.The High Court judge banned naming the man for fear of persecution

Instead, four security men took him in a van to a plane, he said in a statement.

He also claimed he was handcuffed when he resisted leaving the van, then punched in his private parts to make him straighten his legs so they could be belted together.

His mobile phone was taken from him, he said, despite Home Office rules requiring 72 hours' notice of removal to give people a chance to make calls.

Lawyers for the home secretary conceded in court that his removal was carried out illegally.

But they argued flying him back to the UK was pointless because he would lose the new asylum claim he wanted to make.

Mr X is expected to launch a claim for damages over his illegal treatment if he is returned to the UK.

He said he feared persecution because his native country discriminated against homosexuals.

Mr X arrived in the UK in September 2001 and worked for seven years before being earmarked for removal after the failure of his original asylum claim.

The judge ruled his account of how he was deceived and forced on to a plane with no chance to contact anyone was "credible".